Graeme Swann’s artistry earns him the turner prize

GRAEME SWANN spared the blushes of the tourists yesterday with four wickets that not only saw him surpass Jim Laker as England’s leading off-spinner but just about kept his side within sight of India after the first day.

But in providing conclusive proof that it will be spin that decides this opening Test, his performance proved as much a fillip for the opposition as reward for his own side after a day of hard toil in the field.

India’s overnight resting place of 323-4 could clearly have been significantly stronger had it not been for Swann. Yet for all his efforts the hosts were firmly wedged in the driving seat with England clinging to the rear bumper.

Even if England manage to knock over the remainder of the Indian skittles with a clean and swift strike today, the hosts’ spin trio of Ravi Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Yuvraj Singh will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of bowling on this crumbling deck.

This was a day when England’s three-pronged seam attack was well and truly blunted. Jimmy Anderson was the pick of the trio but Stuart Broad and particularly Tim Bresnan, who went for 56 in 10 overs without reward, were picked off short or wide far too many times.

But yes, we are in a strong position

Virender Sehwag

The sight of England’s second specialist spinner Monty Panesar sitting unused and unselected on the sidelines was repeatedly shown by the host broadcasters with each and every spit and turn of the ball.

But Swann pointed to a return of 0-39 from 14 overs as evidence of the good back-up job slow bowler Samit Patel, right, had in fact done for England, and that is without seeing how many runs he adds in his primary role as batsman.

But he also admitted both that England would clearly have been happy with “a couple more wickets and 60 fewer runs” on the board, and that the Indian spinners will be “watching eagle-eyed and looking forward to having a bowl”.

Swann would have preferred that his efforts to reach and pass Laker’s 53-year-old mark of 193 Test wickets had put England in a commanding position.

He joked that it would be handy if he could now go on to repeat or better Laker’s 19 wickets in a Test match from 1956.

“I will go to bed dreaming of taking 20 wickets now – why not,” he said with a smile.

“But it’s undoubtedly a proud moment for me. I’m not usually one for stats but when you are growing up, you never even dream of getting past the records of famous names like that.” Swann dispatched a few famous names yesterday, too, on his way to his 196th wicket, with Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli his quartet of victims.

The two deliveries to get Sehwag and Kohli were his best; the first flighted beautifully to draw the opener into a loose sweep, and the second turning wickedly off a length and sailing through a large gap between bat and pad.

But Swann’s skill could not stop Sehwag posting his first Test century for two years on his way to 117 or, for that matter, promising 24-year-old Cheteshwar Pujara from moving to the brink of another. He closed the day unbeaten on 98 and yet he should have been sent back with just eight runs, Anderson uncharacteristically misjudging his position at mid-on and seeing a leading edge off Bresnan’s bowling sail over his head.

That was not the only mistake on a day in which Jonathan Trott put down Kohli on four at slip off the bowling of Swann.

He claimed he had taken the catch at the second attempt after parrying a looping edge behind him, but replays showed an unimpressed crowd – and the third umpire – that it clearly hit the ground. Matt Prior, a man not without his critics in terms of his wicketkeeping, also dropped Sehwag on 80 down the leg side off Anderson, and then missed a chance to stump Gambhir two balls before Swann finally got him.

Sehwag, above, said after play that there was still plenty to do to win the match. “It is not over because taking 20 England wickets will not be easy,” he said.

“It is not as if they are Bangladesh or something, they are the No2 side in the world. But yes, we are in a strong position.”

For Alastair Cook, this was a crash course in the frustrations of Test captaincy.

He lost a toss that it was barely worth asking what the winning captain would do, and then had to suffer a morning session in which India piled on 120 runs without loss.

The afternoon brought with it three of Swann’s wickets but no let-up in the pace of scoring, with India going in for tea at 250-3.

It was only when the ball went soft that England exerted any sort of brake on the flow.

Cook’s decision to take the new ball after 86 overs, just three from the close of play, was understandable even if it brought no reward.